As part of their initiative to open-up their search platform, Yahoo! Search is opening its search platform to third party content providers and re-designing the way users will be presented with search results. So far the results were the standard title/description combination, but the new result format will soon include user generated data such as reviews and images, as well as other useful information such as map directions, contact information, price range of services and products (if available). They state that sites like Yelp and New York Times are examples of how additional data can be incorporated into search results. Any site that can offer additional information about a particular search result can take part in shaping it for the searcher. This way Yahoo! is hoping to deliver a richer and more useful search experience to the searcher, and higher quality traffic for websites appearing in search results.

Here’s a graphical comparison of what the changes will look like:

before

after

“We believe that combining a free, open platform with structured, semantic content from across the Web is a clear win for all parties involved — site owners, Yahoo! and most importantly, our users. And by the way, users will be in complete control of the experience and will be able to turn off anything related to open search if they so desire. Over the course of the next few months, we’ll be talking more about how this platform will work and what it will enable.”

I think there’s plenty more to be seen before any final conclusion can be made about the new Yahoo! search result concept. It looks promising, but for now, it’s safe to say this is another example of the future of search and why it’s more important than ever to get a site/business listed and reviewed on portals, directories and content sharing sites.

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